The present invention relates to a novel phthalocyanine compound, a water-based ink composition containing the salt of the same compound, and a colored product using the same composition.
The method for recording by means of an ink-jet printer, a representative method among various color recordings, comprises generating ink droplets and depositing onto various recording materials (such as paper, film, cloth) for recording. The method has rapidly been spread in recent years and will be propagated in future because said ink-jet printer is noiseless as its recording head does not touch a recording material, moreover, said ink-jet printer can be easily downsized, works in a high-speed and gives easy color printing. The water-based ink dissolving a water-soluble dye in a water-based medium has been used as the ink for a fountain pen or a felt pen and ink-jet recording, wherein a water-soluble organic solvent is generally added for the medium so as to prevent ink from clogging at the pen nib or the ink-jet nozzle. The water-based ink is required to privide a satisfactory density of image, not to clog at the pen nib or the ink-jet nozzle, to dry quickly on the recording material, not to blur, and to have good storage stability. The provided image is also required to have satisfactory light fastness and water fastness.
Black ink is the most important among various hues of inks prepared by various dyes because it is used for both a mono-colored image and a full-colored image. The dyes for the black ink have been disclosed by many applications (such as JP Laid-Open No.144067/1980, JP Laid-Open No.207660/1982, JP Laid-Open No.147470/1983, JP Laid-Open No.93766/1984, JP Laid-Open No.190269/1987, JP Laid-Open No.246975/1987, JP Laid-Open No.22867/1988, JP Laid-Open No.33484/1988, JP Laid-Open No.93389/1989, Jp Laid-Open No.140270/1990, JP Laid-Open No.167270/1991, Jp Laid-Open No.200852/1991, JP Laid-Open No.359065/1992, JP Laid-Open No.172668/1994, Jp Laid-Open No.248212/1994, JP Laid-Open No.26 160/1995, and JP Laid-Open No.268256/1995). But there has not yet been provided any black ink to meet satisfactorily the above requirements in the market.
An ink-jet printer is widely used from a small OA printer to a big industrial printer. Therefore, the better water fastness and light fastness in the inks for the said ink-jet printer are strongly required, especially when jetted on a plain paper. However, there has not yet been provided any black ink to meet the requirements in spite of its highest demand. On the other hand, a processed paper, which is remarkably improved in water fastness by coating inorganic particles such as porous silica, alumina sol and a special ceramics absorbing the dye from an ink together with a cationic polymer or a PVA resin on the paper, has been diversely available in the market as a coated paper for the ink-jet printer.
Nevertheless, the water-based black ink is yet inferior to a pigment ink in water fastness. So, it is desired an invention of a black dye and the ink having the same level of water fastness as a pigment ink. The technique to improve its light fastness has not yet been established and it is still remaining as a problem to be solved.
The chemical structure of a black colorant used in a water-based ink for ink-jet recording is represented by an azo product such as a diazo product, a triazo product or a tetrazo product. But an azo product, though it has a relatively good water fastness, is inferior in light fastness to the cyan dye represented by a copper phthalocyanine. So, a water-based black ink is commonly obtained by combining several colorants having the excellent properties respectively.
An object of the present invention is to provide a black colorant and the water-based black ink that, even if used independently, has black hue suitable for ink-jet recording; ranks with a pigment ink in the water fastness and light fastness of a recorded image; and can read a printed bar code by near-infrared ray.
The present inventors made a diligent study to solve the above problem and, as a result, have completed the present invention by finding that a phthalocyanine compound having a carbonyl group, which is a reaction product of an aminophthalocyanine represented by Formula (1) as shown below with (meth)acrylic acid (acrylic acid and/or methacrylic acid, hereinafter in the same meaning to use), or the salt thereof has properties to meet the above object.
Namely, the present invention is as follows:
1. A phthalocyanine compound or the salt thereof obtained by reacting the aminophthalocyanine represented by Formula (1) as shown below with (meth)acrylic acid. 
(In Formula (1), M shows two hydrogen atoms or a metal atom, and m is an integer of 4 or less).
2. An alkali-soluble phthalocyanine compound represented by Formula (3) as shown below or the salt thereof, 
(In Formula (3), each of R1, R2, R3 and R4 shows independently any one of the groups of NHC2H4COOH, N(C2H4COOH)2, NHCH2CH(CH3)COOH, N(CH2CH(CH3)COOH)2, and NH2; M shows two hydrogen atoms or a metal atom; and each of n, p, q and r shows 0 or 1, provided that n+p+q+r is 1 to 4),
which is obtained by reacting an aminophthalocyanine represented by Formula (2) as shown below with (meth)acrylic acid. 
(In Formula (2), M, n, p, q and r respectively show the same meanings as in Formula (3)).
3. A phthalocyanine compound or the salt thereof according to the above 1 or 2, wherein said metal atom is nickel, copper, zinc, aluminum, iron or cobalt.
4. A phthalocyanine compound or the salt thereof according to the above 3, wherein said metal atom is copper.
5. The salt of a phthalocyanine compound according to the above 2, wherein said salt is an alkali salt having a water-solubility of 2% by mass or more.
6. A water-based ink composition comprising the salt of a phthalocyanine compound according to the above 2.
7. A water-based ink composition according to the above 6, wherein said salt is an alkanolamine salt, a lithium salt, a sodium salt, a potassium salt or an ammonium salt.
8. A water-based ink composition according to the above 6, wherein said salt is an ammonium salt.
9. A water-based ink composition according to the above 6, further comprising water and a water-soluble organic solvent.
10. A water-based ink composition according to the above 6, wherein said water-based ink composition contains 1% by mass or less of inorganic salt.
11. A water-based ink composition according to the above 6, wherein said water-based ink composition is used for ink-jet recording.
12. A method for ink-jet recording which is characterized by using the water-based ink composition according to the above 6 as an ink in said method for ink-jet recording to jet ink droplets on a recording material in response to recording signals.
13. A method for ink-jet recording according to the above 12, wherein said recording material is an information transmission sheet.
14. A tank containing the water-based ink composition according to the above 6.
15. An ink-jet printer set with the tank according to the above 14.
16. A colored product comprising the phthalocyanine compound or the salt thereof according to the above 2.